Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2pzkn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-11T03:33:54.585Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Swollen Woman, Shifting Canon: A Midwife's Charm and the Birth of Secular Romance Lyric

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2020

William D. Paden  and
Frances Freeman Paden
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In “Tomida femina” (“A swollen woman”), a tenth-century charm written in Occitan, the vernacular of the south of France, a birthing woman and her helpers intone magical language during the most intense moments of childbirth. The poem permits us, with brief but uncommon intimacy, to imagine the lives of women long ago. It takes its place in a European tradition of birthing charms, including others written in Latin, German, and English. These charms, and in particular “Tomida femina,” provide an image of vigorous medieval women in childbirth that precedes the images of women in other secular Romance lyrics—young girls in love in the Mozarabic kharjas, idealized ladies in troubadour songs, and passionate aristocratic women in the poetry of the Occitan trobairitz.

Type
Cluster: Philology Matters
Information
PMLA , Volume 125 , Issue 2 , March 2010 , pp. 306 - 321
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Charms Cited

“Adiuva me, Deus.” 2nd half of 9th cent. MS 751. Stiftsbibliothek, Sankt Gallen. Lat. For a worm in the hand. Ed. Reiche 12.Google Scholar
“Carmen hoc utile profluvio muliebri.” Cit. by Marcellus Empiricus (5th cent.). Lat. For women's discharge. Ed. Heim 498n110; Niedermann 90.Google Scholar
“For Woman that travelyth of Chylde.” 1475. Eng. and Lat. Amulet for difficult birth. Ed. Bader 119. Also 15th cent. MS Sloane 3160. British Lib., London. Ed. Hunt 98n89. Discussion in Elsakkers 190–92.Google Scholar
“ℨif wif nemaeзe bearn beran.” C. 1000. MS Harley 585. British Lib., London (Grattan and Singer 209). AS. For difficult birth. Ed. Storms 196–203; Grattan and Singer 188–91. Discussions in Nelson; Weston.Google Scholar
“Incipit orationem ad matrem dolorum.” End of 9th cent. to beg. of 10th. MS XC (85). Biblioteca Capitolare, Verona. Lat. For difficult birth. Ed. Meersseman 38.Google Scholar
“Oratio ad puncte.” End of 9th cent. to beg. of 10th. MS XC (85). Biblioteca Capitolare, Verona. Lat. For a punctum, a “sore” or “abscess.” Ed. Meersseman 40.Google Scholar
“Renium dolor vel cetera alia precantati dicis haec.” 2nd half of 9th cent. MS 751. Stiftsbibliothek, Sankt Gallen. Lat. For kidney pain. Ed. Reiche 15.Google Scholar
“sator arepo.” Attested since Pompeii. Lat. and one magic word (arepo). Amulet. Ed. Bader; Balletto 156–65; Darmstaedter; Green 100; Hunt 358n100; Kieckhefer 77–78; Storms 281–82.Google Scholar
“Stulta femina super fontem sedebat.” 10th cent. MS Bongarsiana. A92. Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek, Bern. Lat. For bleeding. Ed. Heim 498n111; Steinmeyer 376.Google Scholar
“Tomida femina.” 10th cent. MS 201, fol. 89v. Bibliothèque Communautaire et Interuniversitaire, Clermont-Ferrand. Occitan. For difficult birth. Ed. Bischoff 261–65; Paden, “Before the Troubadours” 513–15, “Language” 187–88; Paden and Paden, Troubadour Poems 14–16. In margin of Lat. work ed. Kaser and Schwarz 15–16.Google Scholar
“Tumbo saz in berke.” 11th cent. Strassburg. MS destroyed. OHG. For bleeding. Ed. Heim 498n110; Steinmeyer 375; Braun and Helm 90.Google Scholar

Works Cited

Albucasis. Albucasis on Surgery and Instruments: A Definitive Edition of the Arabic Text with English Translation and Commentary. Ed. and trans. Spink, M. S. and Lewis, G. L. Berkeley: U of California P, 1973. Print.Google Scholar
Albucasis. La chirurgie d'Albucasis (ou Albucasim). Ed. Grimaud, Jean and Lafont, Robert. Montpellier: Centre d'Études Occitanes, 1985. Print.Google Scholar
Aymar, A. “Contribution à l'étude du folklore de la Haute-Auvergne: Le sachet accoucheur et ses mystères.” Annales du Midi 37–38 (1925–26): 273–347. Print.Google Scholar
Bader, Richard-Ernst. “Sator Arepo: Magie in der Volksmedizin.” Medizinhistorisches Journal 22.2–3 (1987): 115–34. Print.Google Scholar
Balletto, Laura. Medici e farmaci, scongiuri ed incantesimi, dieta e gastronomia nel medioevo genovese. Genova: U di Genova, Istituto di Medievistica, 1986. Print.Google Scholar
Belmon, Jérôme, and Vielliard, Françoise. “Latin farci et occitan dans les actes du XIe siècle.” Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes 155.1 (1997): 149–83. Print.Google Scholar
Berger, Roger, and Brasseur, Annette. Les séquences de sainte Eulalie. Genève: Droz, 2004. Print.Google Scholar
Berschin, Helmut, Berschin, Walter, and Schmidt, Rolf. “‘Augsburger Passionslied’: Ein neuer romanischer Text des X. Jahrhunderts.” Lateinische Dichtungen des X. und XI. Jahrhunderts: Festgabe für Walther Bulst. Heidelberg: Lambert Schneider, 1981. 251–79. Print.Google Scholar
Biblia Sacra Vulgata. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2006. Print.Google Scholar
Bischoff, Bernhard. Anecdota novissima: Texte des vierten bis sechzehnten Jahrhunderts. Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1984. Print.Google Scholar
Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Renate. Not of Woman Born: Representations of Caesarean Birth in Medieval and Renaissance Culture. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1990. Print.Google Scholar
Bozoky, Edina. Charmes et prières apotropaïques. Turnhout: Brepols, 2003. Print. Typologie des sources du Moyen Âge occidental 86.Google Scholar
Braun, Wilhelm, and Helm, Karl, eds. Althochdeutsches Lesebuch. 17th ed. Rev. Ebbinghaus, Ernst A. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1994. Print.10.1515/9783110911824CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruckner, Matilda, Shepard, Laurie, and White, Sarah. Songs of the Women Troubadours. New York: Garland, 1995. Print.Google Scholar
Brunel, Clovis. “Une nouvelle vie de sainte Marguerite en vers provençaux.” Annales du Midi 38 (1926): 385–401. Print.10.3406/anami.1926.8331CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carolus-Barré, Louis. “Un nouveau parchemin amulette et la légende de sainte Marguerite patronne des femmes en couches.” Comptes rendus des séances [Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres] (1979): 256–75. Print.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chambers, Frank M. “Versification.” A Handbook of the Troubadours. Ed. Akehurst, F. R. P. and Davis, Judith M. Berkeley: U of California P, 1995. 101–20. Print.Google Scholar
Clayton, Mary, and Magennis, Hugh. The Old English Lives of St. Margaret. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1994. Print.Google Scholar
Corriente, Federico. Poesía dialectal àrabe y romance en Alandalús (cejeles y xarajat de muwassahat). Madrid: Gredos, 1997. Print.Google Scholar
Darmstaedter, Ernst. “Die Sator-Arepo-Formel und ihre Erklärung.” Isis 18.2 (1932): 322–29. JSTOR. Web. 29 May 2007.Google Scholar
“Dolor.” Thesaurus.Google Scholar
The Douay-Rheims Bible. London: Baronius, 2003. Print.Google Scholar
Dronke, Peter. The Medieval Lyric. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Brewer, 1996. Print.Google Scholar
Elsakkers, M. “‘In Pain You Shall Rear Children’ (Gen. 3:16): Medieval Prayers for a Safe Delivery.” Women and Miracle Stories: A Multidisciplinary Exploration. Ed. Korte, Anne-Marie. Leiden: Brill, 2001. 179–209. Print.Google Scholar
Étaix, R. “Le lectionnaire liturgique de la Cathédrale de Clermont au Xe siècle.” Bulletin historique et scientifique de l'Auvergne 88 (1977): 239–53. Print.Google Scholar
Frank, István. Répertoire métrique de la poésie des troubadours. 2 vols. Paris: Champion, 1953–57. Print.Google Scholar
Franz, Adolph. Die kirchlichen Benediktionen im Mittelalter. Vol. 2. Graz: Akademische, 1960. Print.Google Scholar
French, Valerie. “Midwives and Maternity Care in the Greco-Roman World.” Helios ns 13.2 (1987): 69–84. Print.Google Scholar
Frye, Northrop. “Charms and Riddles.” Spiritus Mundi. Markham: Fitzhenry, 2006. 123–47. Print.Google Scholar
Gaunt, Simon, Harvey, Ruth, and Paterson, Linda, eds. Marcabru: A Critical Edition. Cambridge: Brewer, 2000. Print.Google Scholar
Gélis, J. History of Childbirth: Fertility, Pregnancy, and Birth in Early Modern Europe. Boston: Northeastern UP, 1991. Print.Google Scholar
Grattan, J. H. G., and Singer, Charles, eds. Anglo-Saxon Magic and Medicine: Illustrated Specially from the Semi-pagan Text ‘Lacnunga.‘ London: Oxford UP, 1952. Print.Google Scholar
Green, Monica H. Preface. Green, Trotula xi-xvii.Google Scholar
Green, Monica H. ed. The Trotula: A Medieval Compendium of Women's Medicine. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 2001. Print.Google Scholar
Hampp, Irmgard. Beschwörung, Segen, Gebet: Untersuchungen zum Zauberspruch aus dem Bereich der Volksheilkunde. Stuttgart: Silberburg, 1961. Print.Google Scholar
Heim, Ricardus. “Incantamenta Magica Graeca Latina.” Supp. issue of Jahrbücher für classische Philologie 19 (1893): 463–576. Print.Google Scholar
Hilty, Gerold. “Les plus anciens monuments de la langue occitane.” Cantarem d'aquestz trobadors: Studi occitanici in onore di Giuseppe Tavani. Ed. Rossi, Luciano. Alessandria: Dell'Orso, 1995. 25–45. Print.Google Scholar
Hunt, Tony. Popular Medicine in Thirteenth-Century England: Introduction and Texts. Cambridge: Brewer, 1990. Print.Google Scholar
Jones, Alan. “Sunbeams from Cucumbers? An Arabist's Assessment of the State of Kharja Studies.” La corónica 10.1 (1981–82): 38–53. Print.Google Scholar
Kaser, Max, and Schwarz, Fritz, eds. Die Interpretatio zu den Paulussentenzen. Köln: Böhlau, 1956. Print.Google Scholar
Kieckhefer, Richard. Magic in the Middle Ages. New York: Cambridge UP, 1989. Print.Google Scholar
Klinck, Anne L. Anthology of Ancient and Medieval Women's Song. Houndmills: Palgrave, 2004. Print.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lafont, Andrée Paule, ed. Anthologie de la poésie occitane, 1900–1960. Paris: Français Réunis, 1962. Print.Google Scholar
Lazzerini, Lucia. Letteratura medievale in lingua d'oc. Modena: Mucchi, 2001. Print.Google Scholar
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. Anthropologie structurale. Paris: Plon, 1958. Print.Google Scholar
Lewis, C. S. The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition. Oxford: Clarendon, 1936. Print.Google Scholar
Marshall, J. H. “Une versification lyrique popularisante en ancien provençal.” Actes du Premier Congrès International de l'Association Internationale d‘Études Occitanes. Ed. Ricketts, P. T. London: Association Internationale d‘Études Occitanes, 1987. 35–66. Print.Google Scholar
“Matrix.” A Latin Dictionary. Ed. Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. Oxford: Clarendon, 1879. Print.Google Scholar
“Matrix.” Oxford Latin Dictionary.Google Scholar
Meersseman, Gilles Gérard. “Il codice XC della Capitolare di Verona.” Archivio veneto 5th ser. 104.139 (1975): 11–44. Print.Google Scholar
Meneghetti, Maria Luisa. Le origini delle letterature medievali romanze. Roma: Laterza, 1997. Print.Google Scholar
Meyer, Paul. “Recettes médicales en provençal d'après le ms. R.14.30 de Trinity College (Cambridge).” Romania 32 (1903): 268–99. Print.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
“Museum Collection: Obstetric Instruments.” Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret. Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret, 6 Feb. 2008. Web. 8 Apr. 2009.Google Scholar
Nelson, Marie. “A Woman's Charm.” Studia Neophilologica 57.1 (1985): 3–8. Print.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Niedermann, Maximilianus, ed. De medicamentis. By Marcellus Empiricus. Lipsiae: Teubneri, 1916. Print. Corpus Medicorum Latinorum 5.Google Scholar
NRSV Standard Bible. New York: Harper, 2007. Print.Google Scholar
O'Connor, Dennis M. “The History of Obstetrics in the Western World from 15000 BC to the Twentieth Century.” The Innominate Society of Louisville. Innominate Soc. of Louisville, 23 Feb. 2006. Web. 8 Apr. 2009.Google Scholar
Olsan, Lea T. “Charms in Medieval Memory.” Roper 59–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
“Os.” Thesaurus.Google Scholar
Ovid. Fasti. Ed. Frazer, James George. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1951. Print. Loeb Classical Lib. 253.Google Scholar
Ovid. Amores. Heroides and Amores. Ed. Showerman, Grant. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1963. 313–511. Print. Loeb Classical Lib. 41.Google Scholar
Oxford Latin Dictionary. Ed. P. G. W. Glare. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1982. Print.Google Scholar
Paden, William D. “Before the Troubadours: The Archaic Occitan Texts and the Shape of Literary History.” De Sens Rassis: Essays in Honor of Rupert T. Pickens. Ed. Guidot, Keith Busby, Bernard, and Whalen, Logan E. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2005. 509–28. Print.Google Scholar
Paden, William D. An Introduction to Old Occitan. New York: MLA, 1998. Print. Introd. to Older Langs. 4.Google Scholar
Paden, William D. “The Language of the Tenth-Century Occitan Charms from Clermont-Ferrand.” L'art de la philologie: Mélanges en l'honneur de Leena Löfstedt. Ed. Härmä, Juhani, Suomela-Härmä, Elina, and Välikangas, Olli. Helsinki: Société Néophilologique, 2007. 185–97. Print. Mémoires de la Société Néophilologique de Helsinki 70.Google Scholar
Paden, William D. “The Troubadour's Lady As Seen through Thick History.” Exemplaria 11.2 (1999): 221–44. Print.Google Scholar
Paden, William D., ed. The Voice of the Trobairitz: Perspectives on the Women Troubadours. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 1989. Print.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paden, William D., and Paden, Frances Freeman. Troubadour Poems from the South of France. Cambridge: Brewer, 2007. Print.Google Scholar
Parnell, Suzanne Sheldon, and Olsan, Lea T. “The Index of Charms: Purpose, Design, and Implementation.” Literary and Linguistic Computing 6 (1991): 59–63. Print.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
“Pera.” Oxford Latin Dictionary.Google Scholar
“Pera.” Thesaurus.Google Scholar
Reiche, Rainer. “Neues Material zu den altdeutschen Nesso-Sprüchen.” Archiv für Kulturgeschichte 59.1 (1977): 1–24. DIGI Zeitschriften. Web. 9 Mar. 2007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reider, Paula M. “Pregnancy and Childbirth: Christian Women.” Women and Gender in Medieval Europe: An Encyclopedia. Ed. Schaus, Margaret. New York: Routledge, 2006. 666–68. Print.Google Scholar
Ricketts, Peter T. COM2: Les troubadours, les textes narratifs en vers. Turnhout: Brepols, 2005. CD-ROM. Concordance de l'Occitan Médiéval.Google Scholar
Rieger, Angelica. Trobairitz: Der Beitrag der Frau in der altokzitanischen höfischen Lyrik. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1991. Print.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roper, Jonathan, ed. Charms and Charming in Europe. New York: Palgrave, 2004. Print.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
“Sator.” Dictionnaire latin-français des auteurs chrétiens. Ed. A. Blaise. Turnhout: Brepols, 1962. Print.Google Scholar
Skemer, Don C. Binding Words: Textual Amulets in the Middle Ages. University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 2006. Print.Google Scholar
Sola-Solé, J. M. Corpus de poesía mozárabe. Barcelona: Hispam, 1973. Print.Google Scholar
Speert, Harold. Obstetrics and Gynecology: A History and Iconography. New York: Parthenon, 2004. Print.Google Scholar
Steinmeyer, Elias von, ed. Die kleineren althochdeutschen Sprachdenkmäler. Berlin: Weidmann, 1916. Print.Google Scholar
Stern, Samuel Miklos. “The Final Lines of Hebrew Muwashshahs from Spain.” 1948. Hispano-Arabic Strophic Poetry. By Stern. Ed. L. P. Harvey. Oxford: Clarendon, 1974. 123–60. Print.Google Scholar
Storms, G. Anglo-Saxon Magic. The Hague: Nijhogg, 1948. Print.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
“Stupeo.” Oxford Latin Dictionary.Google Scholar
“Stupidus.” Oxford Latin Dictionary.Google Scholar
Switten, Margaret. “Music and Versification.” The Troubadours: An Introduction. Ed. Gaunt, Simon and Kay, Sarah. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999. 141–63. Print.Google Scholar
Thesaurus Linguae Latinae. 10 vols. to date. Lipsiae: Teubneri, 1900- . Print.Google Scholar
Welsh, Andrew. Roots of Lyric: Primitive Poetry and Modern Poetics. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1978. Print.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weston, L. M. C. “Women's Medicine, Women's Magic: The Old English Metrical Childbirth Charms.” Modern Philology 92.3 (1995): 279–93. JSTOR. Web. 16 Apr. 2007.Google Scholar